World Lemur Day 2026

About World Lemur Day

World Lemur Day is held on the last Friday of October each year to celebrate lemurs, the primates found wild in exactly one place on Earth: Madagascar. Ring-tailed lemurs, sifakas, aye-ayes, and more than a hundred other lemur species exist nowhere else naturally, which makes them one of the planet's most distinctive and most threatened animal families.

The day is organized with Madagascar National Parks and international conservation partners as the centerpiece of a week of events. Zoos, universities, and wildlife groups host talks, fundraisers, and educational activities, while researchers use the moment to share discoveries about lemur behavior and forest ecology.

The stakes are real. Habitat loss from slash-and-burn farming, logging, and mining, along with hunting, has pushed most lemur species toward endangerment, and Madagascar has lost a large share of its original forest cover. World Lemur Day asks supporters to learn the animals' stories, back credible conservation programs, and remember that protecting lemurs means protecting the entire Malagasy forest ecosystem they anchor.

When is World Lemur Day?

History of World Lemur Day

World Lemur Day was founded by Jonah Ratsimbazafy, a Malagasy primatologist and co-founder of GERP, the Madagascar Primate Research Group, who launched the observance to raise the profile of lemurs both in Madagascar and internationally. It is held on the last Friday of October and anchors the World Lemur Festival, a week of celebrations in Madagascar featuring parades, student events, and community festivals designed to build local pride in the country's unique wildlife. Lemurs themselves are an evolutionary story like no other: isolated on Madagascar for tens of millions of years after their ancestors arrived from Africa, they diversified into dozens of forms, from tiny mouse lemurs to the bear-sized species that went extinct after humans reached the island roughly a thousand years ago. The day keeps attention on the surviving species and the forests they need.

How to Celebrate World Lemur Day

• ✦ Watch a documentary about Madagascar's wildlife and learn three lemur species by name.
• ✦ Adopt or donate to a credible lemur conservation organization working in Madagascar.
• ✦ Attend a lemur event at a zoo or join the online World Lemur Festival programs.
• ✦ Share one fact about lemurs with friends to spread awareness of their endangered status.
• ✦ Support sustainably sourced products so consumer choices ease pressure on Malagasy forests.